Infographic: The Evolution of the Online Music Industry

How online music has revolutionized an industry

The online music industry has exploded since 2005, with most of the sales being single tracks. The advantages to the customer are many, but the music industry as we knew it has suffered dramatic declines in income.

Music consumers enjoy the ability to buy a single track or several tracks from an artist now, via an online music vendor, or often directly from the artist via their website. And they can do so conveniently from home, at any time. They can purchase just the songs they’re interested in, instead of an entire album, and spend far less than they previously had to. Generally, tracks sell for 99 cents each or so. Among other conveniences, fans can now download a purchased track to any of a variety of devices, and listen to them anytime and anywhere.

The music industry as a whole has shrunk considerably from its heyday in the nineties, when nearly a billion units a year were sold. First it was vinyl records, then cassette tapes, then CDs that dominated the market. Now it’s no longer a physical album, but a digital file, usually an mp3, that the listener buys, from one of the many online music outlets. Of course, not all digital music is bought, much of it is still illegally pirated.

All of this is putting quite a dent in the profits of a once-mighty industry.

Via: Kaza Gold

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